How Are You?
by PotatoLemonTart
Summary: (Shiro x Male!OC) Vega is one of Shiro's closest friends. When he are brought along with the paladins, he discovers feelings he's never felt towards Shiro before. Some chapters may include choices for you to choose from. Depending on what you choose, you can change the story minimally or drastically.


_Background Information:_

 _You, Vega, are a male Altean that had been sent to Earth a couple days after birth, and was adopted to a loving family. You and Shiro happened to meet, and had been best friends ever since._

 _Years later, when the paladins had returned to Earth, they found you. You never new you were an Altean until Allura had told you._

 _You have a skin tone similar to Allura's but a littler darker, and pink hair that's swept back, and you also have pink eyes._

 _Another important key factor, you are gay._

* * *

"Mph..." Shiro moaned while shifting in his bed.

You have been up laying on the sleeping bag on the floor for the past hour, listening to Shiro. You loved the sounds he was making, but on the off chance he was having a nightmare, you decided to wake him.

You got up and walked to him slowly, trying not to make a sound. As you got closer to him, you could see his face was flushed, and he was sweating.

"Agh!" He shook, and grabbed on to the sheets of his bed. This startled you, and you bumped into acker. It made a small sound, but it didn't wake him. You let out a sigh of relief, and reached out for his arm.

When you touched it, he moaned again. With hesitation, you shook his arm and whispered Shiro's name. He gasped sharply, and got up.

"Shiro!" You whisper-yelled. "Are you alright?" He looked at you still flushed and breathing heavily.

"Y-yeah... I'm fine." He said softly. "I j-just had a nightmare." He reassured.

He moved his blanket off of him, to find it was soaked with a thick fluid.

You cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure it was just a nightmare?" You asked, smiling.

"Er..." Shiro's face faded to an even darker pink than it was before. "I-I need to us the b-bathroom." He got out of bed and quickly walked to the bathroom door.

You smiled. You couldn't help but find his reaction adorable... _No!_ You thought. _I'm not gay. I can't think like this._ You sighed and lay back down on your sleeping bag.

When Shiro got out, he thought you had fallen asleep again, so he grabbed his jacket and walked out of his room.

You were curious to see what he was doing, so you got up and followed him out. The hallway was dimly light, but you were able to find Shiro's silhouette.

You followed him to the top of one of the castle's towers. He sat down and looked at the stars. You watched him from a distance, but ended up standing next to Shiro without him noticing. He took out a little box, and opened it. It was full of cigarettes.

"You still smoke?" You ask, sitting down next to him.

Shiro stiffened and tried to hide the little box. "Vega! I thought you were asleep!" He said, startled. You looked at him, waiting for an answer.

He sighed. "I do. I've been trying to get over it." He held the cigarette box in his hand, and stared at it. He gripped it hard, then threw it away in anger.

"Hey, Shiro?" You ask. He looks at you. You could see he was sad. "How are you?"

Shiro looked shocked. He hadn't been asked that for a long while. "I'm..." He sighed again and covered his face with his prosthetic hand. "Terrible. I'm supposed to be this strong, tactical leader, but I just can't be that. I can't make a stronger connection with my lion, I can't protect everyone, and I can't even scratch Zarkon without him almost killing someone. Every time we fail. I fail." You could tell Shiro was trying not to cry.

You gave him a little pat on the shoulder. To your surprise, he had hugged you. He started sobbing, and you hugged him back. You were still taken aback though, Shiro had never shown this side of him to you.

"It's okay. I'm here." You said soothingly.

"Thank you, Vega." Shiro said, his voice wavering.

* * *

You and Shiro had spent the rest of that night talking, and you teased him most of the time for wetting his bed.

The next morning, Allura had called you to the training area.

"Ah! There you are!" She said, as you walked in.

"Hey! So, why'd you want to see me?" You asked her.

"I've been meaning to give you something." She pulled out something from behind her. It was your Journal. Your eyes widened. You had written every aspect of who you were in that, and how you felt about others. _Crap._ "How did you get that?!"

"You dropped it while we had come to rescue you." She handed the Journal to you.

You quickly took it. "Thank you! Now, I need to go."

You attempted to walk away, but Allura stopped you. "Also, I have a question for you. Altean to Altean."

You took a deep breath. "What is it?"

"What does it mean to be 'gay'?" She turned her head side-ways slightly.

"Wha- why would y-you think I-I would know that?" You stuttered.

"You wrote it in your little book." Allura pointed at your Journal.

Was this really happening? You couldn't believe you were going to explain this.

You felt very awkward, but you managed to explain. "I see! So it's being in love, but with the same gender?" Allura asked, to be sure she understood.

"Basically." You responded.

"I get it now!" Allura said, cheerfully. "Now, I've got one more thing for you to do." Before you could say anything, she grabbed your wrist and dragged you with her to the pilot room.

When you got there, Shiro had already been there waiting for you and Allura. "Hey, guys!" He greeted us.

Allura stepped in front of us. "Alright, now that your both here, each of you hold out one of your arms." She said. You held out your left arm, and Shiro held out his right prosthetic arm. She pulled out two Altean bracelets, and put them on us. "There!" She chirped happily.

The energy color of the two bracelets turned from blue to pink, then the stuck to each other. You tried pulling your hand away, but it wouldn't let you without dragging Shiro along.

"Uh, Allura?" Shiro asked alarmed.

"It's a bonding exercise!" She smiled. "You must figure out how to separate! Good luck!" Allura started walking away, and as she did, she winked at us.

"Wait, are you doing what I think your doing?!" You shout to her.

Allura just giggles and says, "Ta-tah!"

"God dammit!" You yell. She new about you liking Shiro, and was trying to "help".

"Gee, thanks." Shiro said.

"I'm sorry!" You quickly apologize. "It's just... Allura. She's meddling."

"Meddling? As in the love way?" Shiro asks.

"Ah, th-that's not what I-I m-ment!" You stutter. "L-let's go to P-pidge to see if he c-can fix this."

You and Shiro walk the the Green Lion's launch space, and see Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Keith.

Pidge noticed you coming. "Hey guys!" She greeted. She saw your hands were close together. "Are you two a thing, or...?" She asked.

"N-no! Y-you see..." You paused. You were at a loss for words.

"Allura is making us do a bonding exercise. We're trying to get these," Shiro raised your hands, "To detach."

"Ah, I see." Pidge observed the bracelets. She saw they both had little holes in a certain area. "Hmm... it seems they're voice activated."

"Voice activated?" Keith asked. "Psh. we gotta get physical." He readied his sword, and swung at the bracelets. When it hit,

electricity surged from the bracelets and shocked you and Shiro.

"Whoops... Sorry." Keith apologized.

"What if we pulled them apart?" Lance suggested.

"Lance, I'm pretty sure they already-"

"That's a great idea!" Hunk said, cutting Pidge off.

They both started to pull you two apart.

"Ow. Ow. Ow." You said, kind of in pain. Shiro didn't even hurt.

They pulled even harder now. "Ow! Ow!" It hurt you a lot more. Once they pulled even more harder, you urged them to stop.

"Well, that didn't work." Hunk said.

* * *

Later, you all were having some food in the dining portion of the castle. You and Shiro were standing, drinking some sort of Altean drink.

"Hey, Vega?" Shiro asks.

"Hmm?" You respond.

"Thanks for talking with me the other night. That was really nice."

"No prob, Bob." You say, jokingly.

Shiro chuckled. "You're like a brother to me, dude." He playfully punched you on the arm

 _Brother?_ You froze. He thought of you as his brother. You dropped the glass cup and it shattered. Everyone looked at you. "Brother..."


End file.
